After many months of planning, discussions, purchasing (shares in Cape Union Mart) the big day arrived! When one goes on holiday its usually with lots of excitement, when ones goes to climb Kili for the first time it is certainly with some trepidation. I mean after all, this isn't just a normal holiday, this is climbing the highest mountain in Africa at 5895m, with two of the most special people in my life, my brother Chris and my Dad, Paul!!
Kilimanjaro is composed of three distinct volcanic cones: Kibo 5,895 m (19,341 ft); Mawenzi 5,149 m (16,893 ft); and Shira 3,962 m (13,000 ft). Uhuru Peak is the highest summit on Kibo's crater rim and we did them all!
Planning what you need to take is a major project in its own right! A list consisting of what to take spanning over 5 pages but then limited to 12kg's was the real challenge - however we managed it. The weather on Kili can change within 5 minutes and you really need to ensure that you have gear for every season from warm summer days to icy winter ones.
Surprising that although we live in South Africa, getting to Kilimanjaro is quite a journey. Living in Cape Town means a flight to Johannesburg, which is then followed by a midnight flight to Nairobi, a stop over of about four hours and then a quick 1 hour flip to Kilimanjaro international airport. So leaving on the Friday afternoon we finally arrived at Kilimanjaro mid morning the following day - similar really to what is would take to fly to Europe.
An hours drive from the airport to the Keys Hotel and we are now at our starting point. Allot of the tour companies use Keys hotel as a base for their clients, so you may want to cut out the tour operator and book your trip up Kili direct with Keys hotel - its basic but not badly run.
Above outside the Keys hotel. Below hotel and walking round Moshi with a visit to Chrisburger for local bite to eat and so day 1 almost over, day 2 coming up....
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